Term part-time workers Definition: People who are willing and able to work full-time (over 35 hours per week), but are forced to work less because employers don't need their productive efforts. While part-time workers officially have jobs, and are officially included in the "employed" category when the official unemployment rate is calculated, their labor resources are really only partially unemployed. A person working 20 hours a week, who is willing and able to work 40 hours a week, really should be considered as "half employed."